µGrowl
A Growl / Snarl enabled application for receiving notifications from µTorrent
[Current Version: 1.0.1 | Last Updated: 4/27/2010]
**NOTE** If you downloaded 1.0.1 and it still thinks it is 1.0, grab it again, it has been fixed. Sorry!
1.0.1 is a minor update that only fixes the problem where µGrowl will prevent Windows from shutting down unless it is forcibly terminated.
µTorrent support is (was) one of the most requested additions for Growl For Windows. I have had a project on the back burner for a while for wrapping the µTorrent WebUI. Once Prowl was released and I discovered Growl For Windows, there wasn’t much question, I needed to make this app. µTorrent unfortunately does not support plugins so the options are quite limited. In its current form, µGrowl has transformed from a simple notification system for µTorrent, to a full fledged remote console with quite a lot of features, and even more yet to come!
Prompted by user request, I have also added support for Snarl notifications. µGrowl will automatically use either one if it is running on your system. I myself don’t really use Snarl, so be sure to report any issues found there! In the limited use I have had, it appears to run a bit smoother than GfW so perhaps I will end up making the switch. I urge you to check out both and pick your favorite.
This release completely redesigns the UI and separates the settings from the main view. Active torrents are shown and color coded according to indicate whether they are idle or not. Counts are shown for total, active, downloading, and seeding torrents. Another addition is the total bandwidth uTorrent is using, displayed on the status bar, along with the last successful update time. The window is also now able to be resized, as well as the log/activity panes resized, and the option to hide the active torrent list. On the View menu you can also choose to show all torrents in bold with a ratio greater than 1.
One of the main UI enhancements is the torrent list. Now when it updates, it does not scroll to the top, and will also preserve any selections (for right click menu).
On the File menu you are able to set it to turn on monitoring when launched, as well as to start minimized, and finally to start with Windows! The view menu now offers the ability to turn on extra debugging as well.
Also now found on the File menu is an option to add a torrent by URL. If a URL has been copied it will automatically be shown in the input box that will appear. With this also comes the ability to start, stop, remove, and remove+delete torrents. On the View menu you can now select which columns to display in the torrent list. The options include status, up/down speed, % complete, ratio, seeds/peers, total ul/dl, ETA, and label. You can also click any column header to sort the list.
The first time µGrowl is launched, you will see the settings window. You can enter either a hostname or an IP address for the Server. On the right you can set the notification options.
One notable addition is that now you will be notified if the username or password is incorrect, as well as if there is a problem connecting to µTorrent. Previously these cases would simply fail silently. Along with this, the status bar will indicate if the connection with µTorrent is lost.
µGrowl now also comes with the ability to check for new updates and display important messages. This is on by default but can be disabled if you wish in the Settings.
If you forward your notifications to Prowl on your iPhone, you will receive notifications similar to the one shown here. Currently the torrent size only displays with Torrent Added notifications. In the future the notifications will be more user definable. I have also found that Snarl should support forwarding to Prowl as well but have not tried it as of this writing.
If you aren’t familiar with Prowl you should check it out. Personally I don’t have much use for desktop notifications (ala GfW), but on my iPhone is another story, and Prowl is needed for that. I may add support for emailing notices, depending on user feedback. This would enable µGrowl to be used with other apps such as Text Free.
µGrowl is still in Beta, so it is not perfect but you shouldn’t run into any major issues. To keep up on the known issues or to report any bugs yourself, please visit the forums here.
I want to stress that if you discover bugs, please do take a minute to post them in the forums. The more feedback there is, the faster things will get fixed. The same goes for any feature requests.
And finally, be sure to check back often at least while it’s still in Beta as there may be frequent updates released.
Download µGrowl – 1.0.1
In the event a serious bug is discovered, v1.0 can still be found here.
